Beginner Coral?

[GaryP]

I would suggest spending your money on upgrading your lights before investing in corals. Some mushrooms aren't going to require a lot of light. Most other corals do. The one's that don't require light are going to require feeding that could have a negative impact on your water quality.

When you get your lights, let me know. I can probably hook you up with some good beginner type soft corals like Xenia, clove polyps, and maybe some shrooms.

Gary

[Ram_Puppy]

I have six of the coralife 20 watt 50/50's over my 30 gallon hex, and they are awesome. I am getting excellent growth (in my newb opinion) off my xenia, star polyps, and colt, all of which are in the bottom 1/2 of the tank. You can get them at CB pets of your in san antonio...

[Jennie]

I agree about the lights Gary, the more I think about it the wiser it seems. And thanks also for the offer with the corals. As to the 125 being great for SW, don't think that I haven't thought about it.....lol But currently my Oscars are loving it! It blows my mind thinking of seting up that 125 since I feel like Im over my head sometimes with the 10.

[Markster]

I started with a 29 gal as my first SW and then reef. I moved to a 58 gal, then 75 gal. I have never looked back but have made my share of mistakes. Good luck.

[GaryP]

IMO, the larger the tank the easier it is to take care of. The only negative is cost. More water, salt, chemicals, and equipment replacement costs (pumps, bulbs, etc).

If I have learned one thing from this hobby, its always better to put your money into equipment in the beginning than try to pump money into a tank afterwards. Every dollar you put into a tank in the beginning will pay for itself in the long run. I wish I had learned that lesson several thousand dollars ago.

Gary

[brewercm]

If you check with hellolights they have the coralife 96W quad PC for $97 that is a great light and fits nicely on that tank if you are sticking with 10 Gallon. I have one of these sitting over my 25 hex and it works out great.

[RobertG]

IMO, the larger the tank the easier it is to take care of. The only negative is cost. More water, salt, chemicals, and equipment replacement costs (pumps, bulbs, etc).

If I have learned one thing from this hobby, its always better to put your money into equipment in the beginning than try to pump money into a tank afterwards. Every dollar you put into a tank in the beginning will pay for itself in the long run. I wish I had learned that lesson several thousand dollars ago.

Gary

Well Put Gary, I could not of stated any better. Strongly Agree!!!!

My first tank was a 50 FW, Bye Bye. 75G SW then a 115G REEF now I have 240G REEF. The bigger the better, Maint. Wise. Among other reasons. :-D

I would not of done so fair had I started that small..

[dan]

I AGREE. GO BIGGER. i have a 250gal. now. i'm looking at a 450 for my next tank. just have to sell this one so i can buy it. is'nt this hobby'' AWSOME DUDE ''

[alexwolf]

i have a 175 bowfront, a 7 gal bowfront, and we are adding a 15 gal in the bedroom. I like the look of small tanks, partially because you can see things you cant in a bigger tank. A friend of mine has a boxing crab. It is awesome!!! I would never see it in the 175 though. Same goes for shrimp. I cant ever find them. I have learned the trick is keeping the bioload low in a tank that small. I cant even find my new zoo frags in my 175, they get blown everywhere lol.

[mharris7]

I have a DIY 70watt halide over my 10 gal - you can make one for under $100 if you use catalina brand bulbs. I have a thread w/pics somewhere here on this site and there's some good threads on the same/similar projects in the DIY section of nano-reefs.com.....